Game night

We brought all of our games back to Provo with us with the intent to have a weekly game night. That wasn't as realistic as I thought it would be, so we changed that to once a month. More so, it turned out to be when we had the time and remembered.

Today was one of those days. We told the kids and they quickly did their dinner chores to ensure that we could play. When they were done and ready, I went and grabbed our case of Dominoes. I wasn't sure they were ready for Mexican Train, I'm not even sure I know how to play it, but we taught them how to play Chicken Feet. they thought it was the funniest name for a game, but had a blast learning how to play. The loved it so much we played all 12 rounds of it.

Dividers

With all the heart ache of having the kids doing school work at home, we have been in need of solutions to make it better in any way we can. Ben was on Facebook the other day and came across a post that he thought I might like. He showed me the post and I agreed with him 100%. 

It was from a Mom, who of course was doing school at home with her kids, and she had come up with a fun way to make school spots for her kids. She had more than one child and they each were able to make their space their own and they were made up of things that you could find around the house or for a very small cost. I liked the idea and hoped that it would make school at home more tolerable.

With that in mind we took the kids to the store to get some supplies. They had no idea what we were doing when we walked into the store, but after giving them some specific things to look for, they were getting excited.

Once at home with all their little goodies we told them that they were making study spots. They each had a display board (like the ones you use for science fair projects) that they were able to decorate however they wanted. They each had two folders, stickers, access to extra stickers and paper, red pen, black pen, blue pen, mechanical pencil, etc. With all of these items they could do whatever they wanted and had the resources to be able to get their school work done at home while sitting with their displays as their own little study area. I just hoped that this would work and that they would be excited to use them.

I was surprised how long it was taking them and how much detail they were going into to put these together. I didn't really care as long as this helped the at home schooling situation. When all was said and done, they all loved their study display boards and surprisingly said that they couldn't wait to use them. So far so good.

Birthday

I don't like to focus on our (Ben and I) birthdays as much as we do with the kids. That didn't stop the kids and Ben from making a big deal about mine though.

They (Ben) first surprised me with an EARLY birthday present. A few days before going to Bicknell with Beth and Parker. Ben had me sit down on the couch and then handed me two boxes that were nicely wrapped with written messages from the kids on them, they were sweet birthday wishes. When I finally opened the wrapping, I discovered a selfie stick and some fancy lenses for a camera phone. Ben said that he wanted me to have them before our trip so I could use them while we were there. Now I just need to figure out how to use them. 

Now that it was actually my birthday, yesterday Ben and I went and got an early birthday sweet treat. I had a free birthday waffle from Waffle Love and we took advantage of it. When we got there, we waited in line for out turn to place our order. When it was our turn I ordered the Red Wonder (that's what the coupon was for) and Ben ordered The Sunshine (the one I normally get). 

After placing our order, we found a table to sit at while we waited for our order. When they called our name, Ben went and picked it up and came back and sat down. We then started to chow down. We both shared our waffle's so we could both taste a little of both. I love The Sunshine, but the Red Wonder was amazing. I think I might have a new favorite.

This morning (being my actual birthday) the day was started off with a birthday surprise from Gabbi. When I went out to the van to take the boys to school I found a sweet homemade birthday card waiting for me on my front seat. It looked like she spent a lot of time on it and it was very cute. She did a great job.

While the kids were at school, it was a relaxing morning and afternoon. While waiting to go and pick up the kids, we had a knock on the door. That is unusual at our place, but I walked to the door and when I opened it, no one was there. I looked down and their was a bag sitting there. I grabbed the bag and took it into the kitchen. After opening the back I saw a food container that said Happy Birthday on the top. Inside was a fruit filled crepe. I had no idea who sent it, but I didn't hesitate to taste it. I only had time for one bite before heading out to pick up the boys. When we got back, I shared my special treat with them. They were grateful for it and literally as we finished up with the treat I got a message from Melissa wishing me a happy birthday and letting me know that something special would be dropped off. It was so sweet of her and very clever even though divided by miles.

Now with the treat done, the kids did their homework with no arguments. That one surprised me a great deal, but was very grateful that I didn't have to fight them today. When it was time we loaded up in the van and headed to go and pick up some dinner. I wanted Hawaiian for dinner, but wasn't sure where to get it. Ben found a few places were we could go, and I randomly picked one and that's exactly where we went. It just so happened to be next to the Crumbl store too, so we were able to get dinner and dessert in one stop. After we had both, we headed back home to dig in.

Once at home, we sat down at the table to dish up our dinner. Each of us had our own meal, but really everyone shared a little bit of everything. Everything was okay, I've definitely had better. In my head as I was eating I was picturing the little place in Layton, now that is yummy Hawaiian. At least the cookies were good.

When dinner was over, we cleaned up and Ben went back to his homework. The kids didn't hang around either, they ran off to play in their rooms. I sat down and did some blogging in  hopes to catch up. When it was finally time for bed, I had the kids clean up their rooms, brush their teeth, and get their pajamas on. Once they were ready for bed I went and grabbed Ben and we went into the boys room for family prayer and then put the kids to bed.

Now that the kids were in bed, I said goodnight to Ben and headed out the door. Ben had some homework to get done so I made plans to have some birthday fun with Christy. It was Thursday night and Christy has been bugging me forever to go and do karaoke night with her. Thursday night is normally Disney songs night, so I figured this was the best time as any to go and not only have some fun, but to fulfill a promise.

When I got to Ogden I met Christy at her house. She was just getting off work, so the timing was perfect. When she was ready to go, we hoped in her car and headed to the bar. I wasn't sure I was comfortable with it being at a bar, but it wasn't the first time we've done something like this and knew it would be a lot of fun. I had no idea this place even existed when we pulled into the parking lot. It was literally across the road from El Matador and I have been there many times. I discovered out why I had no idea that it existed, it was in the basement of that building. 

When we got inside, we walked downstairs and were greeted by the bouncer. He asked for our ID's and once we were cleared, we went in and found a table. Once at the table, I was surprised to see that there weren't very many people there. Christy always talked about how busy and fun these nights were. Christy could probably tell by the look on my face and said that small number of patrons was normal, it was still early in the evening. I wasn't sure why 9:30 was considered early, but seeing how the main karaoke crowd doesn't come until around 10:30, I guess that was normal.

As we waited for the crowds to come, we enjoyed those that did get up to sing. I however was surprised that they weren't Disney songs. Christy apologized for it not being Disney, but hoped that we could still have some fun. She said that the normal guy who plays Disney on Thursday's wasn't there. After getting our drinks and debating what songs to sing, she went up and put her name on the list. Back at the table she debated back and forth as to what song she should sing. When her name was called she went up there and did a great job. She was a lot braver than I was. I was fine sitting and being a spectator.

After an hour or so, we went ahead and ordered some nachos. When they came to the table, they looked delicious and I couldn't wait to dig in. As the night went on, more and more people started showing up and more and more people started putting their names on the list. Some were really good and some were just "sing talking." After having gone up their twice now, Christy convinced me to go up and do a duet with her. We decided on Titanium and when it was our turn, I nervously walked up with her.

To make it less scary, I only sang the chorus with her while she sang the rest. I wouldn't have been able to sing the whole sand any way's, I didn't know it. We have always harmonize together whenever we hear it on the radio and knew that I could do that part. Once on stage we did pretty good. When we walked back to our table, we were told that many times that we did an amazing job on the song. Despite it being scary, it was a lot of fun. 

After a little over two hours of being there, I could tell that Christy was getting tired. She had gotten up early for work this morning and still had to get up early to go to work tomorrow. I told her that we should head out since I was still planning on driving home tonight. She had invited me to stay the night, but since she had to work in the morning, I didn't want to impose. When we got in the car, she said thank you for suggesting to head out. She said that she had been debating it for a little bit, but didn't want to spoil my fun. I smiled and we headed back to her place. Once there, I got in my van, thanked her for a fun night, and said goodbye.

School work from home

With only attending school two days a week, that means they have to do home school three days a week. They are not a fan of it and I don't blame them. It was a hard adjustment last school year and its again a hard adjustment again. The worst part is fighting with them to just get it done. Luckily they don't all fight me on it. William rather enjoys it, however his assignments are more fun than that of Gabbi and Owen. Hopefully it gets easier as the time moves on.  

New school year

I wasn't at all surprised hearing what the boys have been doing at school. They have talked a lot about the new changes that exist now at school in order to ensure that they can attend school in person. The first few days it has been an adjustment letting all of the kids know what those are. The 1st graders at least have been able to make it a little fun. They have learned these new rules and regulations through art projects, etc. William has had a lot of fun with it. 

He also spent a lot of time doing getting to know you activities. I wonder if this is any indicator as to how the year of learning with be. If it is, William is in for a treat. He loves being crafty/artsy.

Sleepover

Since our kids only go to school on Tuesday's and Thursday's, we weren't in a rush to get home Sunday night. We stayed at Mom and Dad's for one more night. Since that was the plan, the girls devised a plan to beg for a sleepover. Since we haven't had hardly any since moving to Provo, I was okay with it, but the girls had to clear it with not only Jeff, by Nana. Once they got the all clear, they then went to planning the rest of their evening.

After family dinner was over, everyone left except for Kamree. The girls then asked if they could pull out the Nana and Papa's big queen sized air mattress to sleep on in the toy room. They didn't want to have to share their fun with the boys. Papa of course told them yes, but warned them that it might have a hole in it. The girls went ahead anyway and dragged the bag into the toy room. Once there, they moved things around to ensure that the mattress would fit and then blew up the mattress. Once they were done, it was time to get ready for bed. They weren't happy about that, but we told them that if Gabbi wanted Kamree to stay, there would be no arguing about bedtime. They reluctantly agreed, we said prayer, and we all went to bed.

In the morning we found the girls berried in the folds of the mattress. There indeed was a whole in the mattress and it didn't keep all of it's air. As they moved around it got worse and eventually Gabbi rolled off and onto the floor. I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing the condition of the bed, I pulled the plug to allow it to drain completely. At least it made it easy to put it away.

Zeppe's

With Family dinner tomorrow, we decided to head to Ogden tonight instead of tomorrow afternoon. We didn't head out until after we were done with dinner. Once we were we hit the road.

When we got to Mom and Dad's, I was happy to see that Dad didn't have to work and would be able to spend some time with us. He in turn surprised us with an invitation to go and get some Zeppe's. Their ward was celebrating the kids going back to school with a back to school snack, which was a small cup of Zeppe's Italian Ice. The kids heard Zeppe's and they were all for it. So we loaded back up, the kids in Dad's Jeep and Ben and I in the van and drove to the church.

Once at the parking lot, we followed the line. They had it all worked out like a well oiled machine. They had someone to greet you, someone take your order, someone to take your picture, and someone to delivery your treat to you. They even had someone there making balloon animals for the kids. Once through the line you were done and could take your treat home. There were a few people hanging out on the grass, but we were encouraged to take our treats home and that's what we did.

Back at Mom and Dad's we all went into the backyard to eat our treats. While sitting at the picnic table we were joined by a praying mantis. The kids started to freak out, but both Dad and Ben told them that they had nothing to worry about. They still didn't believe them and had a hard time staying at the table. Ben and Dad then showed them that they had nothing to worry about by picking it up. First Ben than Dad. Once Dad had him, he asked the kids what to do with it and they all decided to put in somewhere where it would survive and they got up and walked to the bushes. The praying mantis happily went from Dad's hand to the bush and the kids just stood there and watched it for a few minutes while they finished their treats.

Bill and Ted

We were heading to Ogden for family dinner and we decided to make it a weekend of fun. We left after getting our Saturday chores done and as we got into Ogden we pulled into the parking lot at the Cinepointe. The kids had no idea what we were doing, we then told them that we were going to watch a movie. It was a movie that Dad and I grew up with that they had never seen or even heard of; Bill and Ted Excellent Adventure. I don't think the kids really cared that they had no idea what they were watching, they were just excited to be watching a movie. 

Ben and I hadn't seen it in years and were laughing so hard at the jokes that we know understood. The kids were even laughing. I'm not sure they knew why they were laughing, but they were. Once it was over, they all raved about it. They said that they really liked it and would definitely watch it again. I was glad to hear that. Now to finished off our fun with a night out of dinner. We went to Jake's over the Top for an early dinner and dessert.

Back to school messages

The school posted on their Facebook page info regarding a fun activity to welcome the kids back to school. They called it "Chalk it up."

In the message it said "Parents, we need your help! This coming Wednesday and Thursday we would like to do something special for the students of Provost on their first days back to school. So, if you are available please meet us in the back of the school around 8:30 am. As soon as the kids are taken inside by their teachers, we will hand out chalk and the fun will begin! We'd like you to help write fun, inspirational, personal or generic messages to the students of Provost. That way, when the kids go outside for their first recesses of the school year they will see all the messages of love."

It sounded like a fun and cute activity to do for the kids. I however am not artistic (drawing) in any way shape or form, so opted not to participate in this activity. Later in the week they posted some the fun messages and pictures that some of the adults did in this Chalk it up activity. The boys even commented on some of their favorites.

First day of School

After a very strange and different summer, it was time for school to start. With COVID it was going to be a very different year, I'm just glad that they are able to have the kids in school. In preparation for school to start a lot of things had to change. The entire summer I was getting emails from the school district describing some of the things that would change. 

First things first, they made 3 different forms of education available. For the Elementary school students they have 1. In-Person Reduced Schedule Classroom Option. This option is where students are assigned an in-person teacher and will receive instruction on a reduced schedule. The level of face-to-face interactions will depend on the current status of the pandemic. The system will adjust or flex to support our board objectives. 

2. Home Study Option. This is an extension of option 1. Students will keep the same in-person teacher as in Option 1 and all essential learnings and course materials will be provided through Canvas. The Home Study is aligned with in-person instruction to allow students to move freely between the two. 

3. Online Option. Students may choose to enroll in eSchool full time each quarter. Students have the ability to access information, demonstrate what they've learned, and communicate with teachers online on their own time separate from their teacher.

For the Secondary school students they have 1. In-person Reduced Schedule Classroom Option. School will provide in-person instruction on a reduced schedule. The level of face to face interactions will depend on the current status of the pandemic. The system will adjust or flex to support our board objectives.

2. Home Study Option. This is an extension of option 1. Students are assigned to an in-person course. Whenever a student is unable to attend a class in person, the student may stay current in the course by accessing materials through Canvas. Students are encouraged to move back and forth between in-person and online as needed and without penalty.

3. Online Option. Students may choose to enroll in eSchool full time each quarter, with curriculum provided through BYU Independent Study. Students have the ability to access information, demonstrate what they've learned, and communicate with Provo City School District teachers online on their own time separate from the teacher.

After reading through the three options and looking into what the eSchool actually was for both the Elementary students and the Secondary students, we decided on Option 1, In-person Reduced Schedule Classroom. The eSchool looked complicated and it relied a lot on the parent running the program and doing a lot of the teaching. I am not built for that and wasn't willing to go through that. Last year was hard enough and it was done by the teachers, I just had to encourage that the work get done. The kids were happy about this choice as well. They couldn't wait to go back to school. 

Along with the different educational options, they also broke the school year into Phases as well. They designed 3 different Phases with the promise that things would change as the COVID numbers changed. These Phases were designed to be able to move freely through them as the numbers go up and down.

Phase 1 Early Dismissal Schedule- 50% building capacity.

• Early Dismissal schedules will run Monday-Thursday.
• Early Dismissal times and Fridays will be used for teacher consultation, planning and feedback, as well as enhanced sanitation efforts.
• Students will attend in-person 2 times per week.
• District wide, students will be assigned which days to attend alphabetically by last name to ensure that families with multiple children in the district are on the same schedule. (Students (A-K) attend on Mondays and Wednesdays while students (L-Z) attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• If students in the same household have different last names, we will work with the families to allow their students to attend on the same days.
• Emphasis on teaching health and hygiene procedures, and accessing Home Study materials.

Phase 2 Early Dismissal Schedule- 100% building capacity.

• Early Dismissal schedules will run Monday-Thursday.
• All students attend Monday-Thursday.

Phase 3 Regular Schedule- 100% building capacity.

• Regular Monday-Friday schedule resumes as permitted by health conditions.

During the first 2 Phases of opening the bell schedule will be Monday-Thursday 8:05 - 1:05 for Secondary schools and Monday-Thursday 8:25 - 1:25 for Elementary schools. During Phase 3 Monday-Friday 8:05 - 2:55 for Secondary schools and Monday-Friday 8:25 - 3:15.

Along with those big changes the school procedures would look differently as well. 

• There would no longer be rewards for attendance. 
• Technology support would be beefed up (each student getting a Chromebook that they will take home every day). 
• Lunches will be staggered as well as half of students eating either outside depending on weather or in the classrooms.
• Masks of course are required by anyone in the schools, even visitors.
• Desks with have dividers in between students.
• Drinking fountains will be closed but each student will receive a water bottle.
• Hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the schools as well as in every classroom.
• Traffic flow through the hallways will be posted and changed to prevent overcrowding while moving through the schools. 
• Assigned seating on the buses.
• Sanitizing playground equipment after each recess as well as diminished recess times (only two recesses instead of three) as well as staggered play times for recess (only one class or grade at a time).
• Books in the library have a 48 hour quarantine before being checked out by another student.
• No contact P.E. activities.
• Each extracurricular class (dance, music, choir, etc) will each have their own specific rules, guidelines, and sanitation.

With all the changes and precautions happening this year, it will be a very interesting school year. 

Along with all the school changes, Gabbi will be facing new challenges of her own. She is starting the 7th grade and is attending Centennial Middle school. It would be very different than what she's used to. She now has 10 different teachers and classes and to cram all of them in she now has A days and B days; 5 classes a day. With Phase 1 her A day will be on Tuesday and her B day with be on Thursday. She also gets to ride the bus and apparently that's a really big deal.

Owen luckily didn't have to change schools like Gabbi did and he is entering the 4th grade. Since there wasn't a back to school night, I'm not really sure what things have specifically changed in the school except for what was sent to me in the emails. He is really looking forward to going into the 4th grade and was hopeful that he would get a specific teacher. He didn't get the one he wanted (Mrs. Holland, our upstairs neighbor), but was in good spirits with the teacher he did get, Mrs. Jones.

William didn't have to change schools either and was really really excited that he would be attending all day like Gabbi and Owen. He is also excited to be able to eat lunch at school too. He is entering the 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. Larsen. I hadn't heard anything specific about Mrs. Larsen, or any of the 1st grade teachers for that matter, so it didn't matter who he got. I was just glad that he was excited to be going back to school.

Today was the First day of school. Well, technically yesterday the 19th was the first day of school, but since our kids attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it's the 2nd day of school. The kids had no problem getting up and getting ready for school this morning. Each of them had pulled out their first day school outfits last night and had their backpacks ready to go for this morning. They couldn't wait to get to school to meet their new teachers and to see their friends. Before they left the house we of course took the traditional first day of school pictures and then off they went.

After school was over I asked the kids how it went. They had so much to talk about. Gabbi had a hard time getting to her classes. She knew where they all were, but since the floors had giant arrows on them to indicate the direction of the hallways, she accidently found herself following them so closely that she found herself in classrooms that weren't actually hers. Other than that, she loved her new classes, teachers, and was looking forward to meeting her next set of teachers on Tuesday.

Owen was happy to report that he had quite a few students/friends in his class that he had last year. He was extremely excited about that one. He was afraid that he wouldn't know anyone in his class. He also said that his teacher seemed like she would be a lot of fun. He said she was making jokes and having fun getting to know the students as well as explaining all the new procedures that they had to do every time they were at school.

William came home with a big smile on his face. He, like Owen, had some of the same kids in his class that he did last year. Not as many as he hoped though. He said that they did a lot of fun activities to help them learn the new procedures for getting around the school and in their classroom. He also was really excited about the treat he got halfway through the school day. It didn't surprise me at all that he was excited about a treat.

As always, the first day of school was a success and they were all excited to be going back again even though it was only two days a week.

Another head injury

With the other two it's their teeth, with William its his head. He's lucky if he gets through a month without a bruise on his forehead. Today was not one of those days and he not only had a bruise, he had a pretty weird hold.

I was going about my afternoon and I hear crying. It wasn't a blood curtailing cry, but it was enough to come out and see what was up. William was hiding in the corner between the wall and the couch. They had built some kind of hiding place and he didn't want to come out of it. When he finally did, he has some blood dripping down his forehead. I took him into the kitchen and cleaned it up to get a better look at it. Upon further inspection, I could clearly see a hole in his forehead. It was almost like he had been stabbed with a pencil. He wasn't. He told me that he went to stand up and his his head on the molding below the window. I have no idea how the molding made that kind of hole, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. So I put some ice in a paper towel, loaded him in the van, and we headed to the Instacare.

Once at the Instacare, we were met at the door. The nurse then asked us a handful of questions, took out temperature, and then had us clean our hands with sanitizer. That was definitely a different experience. After we passed the check point, we made our way to the counter. She asked us why we were there and William began to tell her what happened. She then finished our check in and we went and sat down.

A few minutes later, they called his name and we followed the nurse back to the exam room. Once back in the room, she cleaned it out with something stronger than water and once it was dry, she put some numbing cream on it. She then left the room. After another few minutes the Doctor came in and get it a good look. With the oddness of the hole, he said that it would heal better if he used the superglue instead of actually stitches. I was okay with that. I don't think William would have taken the stitches very well. With that decided, he pulled out everything he needed and started fixing him up.

Luckily it was over in no time at all and William was really good. He didn't move at all. When all was said and done, he was going home with superglue and sutures on his forehead to prevent it from opening back up. He was happy when they were done and I'm pretty sure that we was even happier to get a sucker and a sticker that he could put on his notebook when he gets home. I'm just glad that he was in high spirits and he wasn't going to let this get him down.

When we got home, he walked in the house like he was the winner of an amazing award. I didn't understand why he was so proud of his superglue, but he totally was. It just made me laugh.

Bicknell day 5

When we woke in the morning Ben and I started to clean up our sleeping bags and pack our duffle bags. Once we were done, dressed and ready, we went and checked in on the kids. Since they were awake, we had them come and get dress and to bring us their sleeping bags. While they got dressed we finished packing our bins and bags. Once the kids were dressed, we sent them upstairs to eat breakfast while we starting taking our things out to the truck.

Once all of our stuff was outside, we then took a small break and went inside to eat some breakfast. We again had a simple breakfast of cereal and oatmeal. After we were done eating we helped to clean up the kitchen since we were done with it for the rest of our time here. Beth then came in and told us not to worry about it because she needed to clean out some of the items from the fridge and the cupboard anyway. 

We then went back outside and finalized our packing in the truck. Once we had everything in, we strapped them down, and went back inside to help. Ben and I went downstairs to start cleaning. He went to the bathroom and I went to the rooms. We vacuumed, put toys away, put blankets and pillows away, and made sure the bathroom was spick and span cleaned. When we were done, we made sure to let the kids know that they couldn't' go downstairs anymore.

We then went upstairs to help Beth. We did some vacuuming and Ben did a light clean in the bathroom upstairs since Beth and Parker wouldn't be taken off as soon as we were. When that was done, we asked if there was anything else we could help with. They both told us no, so we took that as our cue to go ahead and head out. We told them Thanks for inviting us, had the kids give loves, and then we loaded ourselves into the truck to head home.

We only stopped once on the way home and that was to get a late lunch early dinner. We grabbed it to go and headed home. The first thing we did when we got home was to of course eat and then we started unloading the truck and cleaning things up after four full days of fun in Bicknell.

When the kids were done, they went off to play. While doing laundry, Gabbi came in and showed us something that she had been working on. It was so sweet to see what she had put together, so much that we sent a copy of it to both Beth and Parker, thanking them again for inviting us for a fun vacation.

Bicknell day 4

This morning we decided to do a little bit bigger breakfast since we had plenty of time and nowhere to go. Beth and I worked together to put together a French toast breakfast along with a bacon, egg, and hashbrown casserole. When it was ready everyone gathered in the kitchen to dish it up as it was coming out. We all ate at different times to ensure that everyone got a hot breakfast. It was so yummy. Beth used coffee creamer as her milk in the French toast mixture. I have no idea what made her think of that (the first time she did it), but it was really good.

When we were done eating, the neighbor friends went and started to pack. They were heading out this afternoon. While they were packing, Beth and I cleaned up the kitchen and the breakfast mess. When things were cleaned up and the neighbors were ready to go, it was time to head out. We were headed to the shooting range so Parker could take the neighbors shooting. Ben of course didn't want to pass it up, so we went as well.

We made one pit stop before heading to the shooting range. It was another site of petroglyphs. Parker and his brother came across it while on ATV's one day and thought they were pretty cool. I have to admit, I'm glad we made the stop. The petroglyphs were cool to see. The kids didn't seem to enjoy them as much as the adults did, but it was a nice little pit stop.

Once at the shooting range, the men unloaded the guns and bags and walked over to one of the table. While they got set up, we did our best to keep the kids back. They would get their turn, but they had to wait. After some time had passed the kids were complaining that they were thirsty and we hadn't brought anything. The neighbor had said that they were planning on stopping at the store on the way out of town, so we decided to do so early. Beth, myself, and the neighbor loaded in Beth's Jeep and headed to the store. 

At the store we picked up some drinks and a few snacks for the kids to munch on while they were waiting for their turn. After we had all that we needed we paid for our items and got back in the Jeep. When we got back to the shooting range, Annie and some of the kids were in the truck. The were trying to stay out of the sun because it was quite warm. Beth then backed her Jeep close to the truck so we could use some blankets to make a canopy between the two. The kids then piled in under the shade to have their drinks and snacks. 

While they were doing that, I walked over to give Ben his drink. He said he didn't want it right now and asked me to send one of the kids over. It was finally time for them to get a turn. Owen happily was the first one to go over and shoot with Ben. It always scared me that he enjoyed this so much. He wasn't the only one. All of our kids really enjoy shooting the 22. Ben also allowed each of them to hold the high powered rifle. They didn't get to shoot it, but the boys got a kick out of holding and even looking through the scope. 

When they men were finally done with all that they had planned to do, they got cleaned up, and said goodbye to their friends. It was so much fun having them there and I hope they enjoyed their time with us. I know Owen had a blast with them, especially the Mom. Owen made her his new best friends during this trip and she was really sweet about it. Owen loved the attention and was sad to see them go.

After getting back to the cabin it was time for lunch. We had a lot of stuff leftover in the fridge so we decided just to do leftovers for lunch. Everyone picked what they wanted and it was pretty much help yourselves. After lunch the kids ran outside to play while we just relaxed in the cabin. 

While the kids were outside playing, the adults played some games in the kitchen. While we were playing we were visited by some friends of Parker's Dad. They were coming by to check out some things. The original plan was for them to stay for dinner, Parker was smoking some pork loin and a brisket. They checked on what they were supposed to and then decided to just head out. They said they had other plans and went on their way.

After they left Parker went back to finishing up the meat while Beth got the sides prepared and ready. When everything was ready, we all sat down and had a very delicious dinner. Parker wasn't a fan of the brisket he put together, he said it was dry and not his best. I wasn't sure what he meant, I thought it was good. The pork loin was my favorite, it was amazing. I would say that that was probably the best part of the dinner. 

After dinner the kids got ready for bed and snuggled up in front of the T.V. to watch a movie. When their movie was over, we put them to bed. We adult then went outside to watch the stars. There were supposed to be a ton of shooting stars tonight and the sky was clear enough to get a good look at them. We pulled out some folding chairs, sat down, and looked to the sky. It was beautiful and breathtaking to see. The only bad part was trying to catch all the shooting stars in a picture. After a little bit, it started to get cold and I was ready to call it a night. Ben agreed, we put our chairs inside and then went downstairs to bed.

On a side note, our first full day we were here, when the kids were out on the ATV's, Gabbi came in the house and seemed pretty upset. I wasn't sure why, so I followed her downstairs. I found her in the bathroom crying. I asked her what was up and she started to tell me that she had flipped on the ATV. I asked her if she was okay and she said she was fine minus some scratches and possibly a few bruises. She, however, was more afraid to tell Parker about it. She was worried that she broke the ATV and that Parker would be really mad at her. I went and got Ben and we sat down and talked with her about how everything would be fine, but that she still needed to tell him. 

When walking around to find where Parker was, we found him in the garage. I could tell she didn't want to go anywhere near him. Ben opened up the conversation and when it was time turned it over to Gabbi. She then apologized and told him what had happened. His first response he of course wanted to make sure that she was okay. She said she was and he told her that that's all that matter. He then walked over to the ATV, gave it a look over, and told her that everything looked fine and that she didn't need to worry about it. Just by looking at her, you could tell that she was relieved. I was just at relieved to hear that as much as she was. Each day the marks, scratches, and bruises began to heal and she was acting like herself, no problem.